SHARP HOME

Friday, 1 February 2013

Five surprising safety hazards for children in your home

When we consider child safety around
the home, the first hazards that come to mind are those involving
sharp objects, hot objects, and power. However, there are several
seemingly benign items around the home that can make hazards of
themselves.

Dishwashers – It is true that
no matter how many high quality toys you purchase for your child,
they will inevitably find more interesting things to explore in your
household. One such popular “toy,” as unlikely as it may seem to
an adult, is the dishwasher. With buttons, sounds, sliding racks,
pegs, it's the works! Unfortunately, that also makes it just as much
dangerous as it is amusing. Tiny hands can get pinched in the locking
latch, fingers can be crushed under the rolling racks, and sharp
utensils can cause injury. The easiest way to deal with the safety
risk of a dishwasher is to make sure sharp utensils are pointed
downward when you put them into the utensil carriage, and that you
keep the dishwasher locked when you aren't loading or unloading it.

Bed – We've come to associate
the bed as a place of comfort, rest, and safety, so it may seem odd
to see it listed as a potential safety hazard. However, with very
small children, certain toys and linens that you might think would be
safe in the bed are actually hazards for choking and suffocation.
Newborns especially should not have any soft toys or linens of any
kind with them in their crib. (If you are concerned about warmth,
you can use a wearable blanket). Additionally, the hardware of a bed
itself should be carefully checked from time to time to ensure that
it's ability to stand and support your child hasn't become
compromised, as some cheaper furniture can often do.

Purses and work bags – It's
amusing to adults when children try to imitate their elders, or when
they make snoops of themselves in what adults would consider private
territory. However, an unsupervised child playing with a purse is
exposed to several hazards. Bag straps can become wrapped around the
child's neck and cause strangulation. Zippers can injure hands.
Additionally, small items that are tossed loosely into your bag, such
as change or lipstick, can be choking hazards. When you are not using
your purse or bag, store it in a place that is out of reach.

Televisions – Most of us don't
look at our television sets as particularly dangerous pieces of
household equipment—they don't have blades or sharp edges on them
that alarm us. The danger in a television, however, is in the weight
of the object itself. A flat screen television may not actually be
that hard for a child to pull down. The weight of such a fall could
hurt the child substantially. To prevent this, keep your television
atop a sturdy, low level stand, and either strap it down using
earthquake straps, or mount it into the wall.

Standing water - Children have
a fascination with water—particularly when they are beginning to
explore various textures and materials (that's why there can be much
competition for space at the water table in kindergarten!) It's
important for you to be aware of this curiosity, and to realize that
it doesn't take much standing water for a child to drown in it. Be
sure to drain all sources of standing water in your house. If this is
not possible, then take measures to secure the area where the
standing water is so that it cannot be accessed by a child.